The new Ulu-o-Tokelau is encouraging a strong national spirit of unity and a commitment to the basic principles of Tokelauan culture in 2015.

The Ulu of Tokelau, Siopili Perez and his wife, Taase Perez, at their inauguration.

Photo: SUPPLIED / Tokelau government

Siopili Perez, who is the Faipule of Nukunonu, was inaugurated on Monday as Ulu, the Titular Head of Government, rotated among the leader of each atoll on an annual basis.

Mr Perez says he aspires to ensure Tokelau has a culture of working together, looking after those with no spouses or land, respect for women and doing things the traditional way.

He says there have been a number of issues discussed at the General Fono this week, including shipping, healthcare, education, climate change and quality of government services delivered to the people.

"Much of the problems lie with our current poor shipping service. Much of the basic necessities we need in Tokelau hangs heavily in the sea transport, which is the only means Tokelauans to travel overseas. This is something which Tokelau and New Zealand are currently working together on, on a new ship scheduled to [be] operational in Tokelau before the end of this year actually."

Transcript

The new Ulu-o-Tokelau is encouraging a strong national spirit of unity and a commitment to the basic principles of Tokelauan culture in 2015.

Siopili Perez, who is the Faipule of Nukunonu, was inaugurated on Monday as Ulu, the Titular Head of Government, rotated among the leader of each atoll on an annual basis.

Mr Perez says there are a number of issues on the agenda, including shipping, healthcare, education, climate change and the quality of government services being delivered to the people.

Mary Baines began by asking him how it felt to assume the top job for the first time.

SIOPILI PEREZ: It's a challenge, actually. The people decided to put me through in this area of leading Tokelau, but it's going to be a big challenge for me.

MARY BAINES: So what are your aims and aspirations for this year?

SP: At my inauguration on Monday, I highlighted two important points which summarised my aspirations for my people as Ulu-o-Tokelau for 2015. First point, I reminded my people that Tokelau must never lose sight of the unchanging principles and value of our Tokelauan culture. Our traditional lifestyles may be evolving and changing day by day, for so many external forces [are] interacting with our communities. This unchanging principle and values, have, like our ancestors, make us who we are today. I briefly outlined some which I think have been the working principles that for generations have operated our Tokelau way of life. The unique oneness of Tokelau, faifai mea fakatahi, working together and contributing as one for the development of our three small islands which make us Tokelau. The concept of faka Tokelau, doing things the Tokelauan way, like the inati system, our traditional way of distributing our marine and land resources. The concept of tama manu, looking after those with no spouses and those without land to live from. The concept of tama fafine, respect for women, as they have a very special place in contributing keeping our families operational in village life, and they are like the treasures of Tokelau society. Secondly, as the Minister of Finance, I wanted to bring home the message to my people that more is not necessarily better. Tokelau has long-recognised limits. Sometimes we overwhelm ourselves too much in infrastructural development work and we end up achieving very little due to the availability of construction materials because our current shipping does not meet our needs. Obviously much of the problems lie with our current poor shipping service. Much of the basic necessities we need in Tokelau hangs heavily on the strings of sea transport, which is the only means of us Tokelauans to travel overseas. This is something which Tokelau and New Zealand are currently working together on on a new ship which will be scheduled to be operational in Tokelau before the end of this year actually. It's my hope, the prudent financial management by all sectors of national and local government would be the norm of the day. We need to look after our financial resources in a way to reflect good governance as we are accountable to our major donors. It's a way of honouring our warm relationship with donors, particularly our big donors, the help of the New Zealand government which we are very appreciative of that.

MB: What are the main issues currently before the General Fono meeting this week?

SP: The Fono is actually focussed on one, shipping. I have alluded to how shipping is very high priority for Tokelau. Some three years ago, Tokelau opted for a ship as its main transport. As mentioned [with] the help of New Zealand we will hopefully get a new ship. The other one is structural reforms. Last year, Tokelau agreed to overhaul its government institutions. This plan is known as the Quality of Life Plan, aims to improve government services, delivery to the people we serve. This is to ensure better quality of life for the people of Tokelau. The other one which we discussed was climate change. As a low lying atoll, Tokelau is very much vulnerable to the impact of climate change. We had five tropical cyclones in my life. Very devastating to our food and crops and structural buildings. Salt erosion caused by sea level rise is quite evident now. Over the last 30 years some 10 metres of coastal land areas and roads in the main villages have disappeared. The last two which we touched on is education. Tokelau has been able to recruit new teachers from overseas. This is one of the recommendations of the report by the Education Review Office of New Zealand in an effort to improve the education of our children. And again, New Zealand has contributed in this area, and we very much appreciate that. And lastly it was the health, Tokelau health is greatly hindered by poor transport for patients being referred overseas for treatment. Being isolated means that all emergency referrals have to travel quite a few miles to the nearest advanced hospital. These were the main areas, issues, which were discussed, given the few days, we managed to discuss, and the way forward. Hopefully this will speed up as we go for a better life for Tokelau, Mary.